Word on the Street: Peoria should take a close look at IHSA state basketball tournament deal

Sunday

Mar 23, 2014 at 5:38 PMMar 23, 2014 at 6:13 PM

Chris Kaergard and Nick Vlahos of the Journal Star

If Peoria isn’t getting the same bang for its buck, maybe it’s unwise to give the Illinois High School Association more of them. Or, for that matter, as many of them.

The contract under which Peoria hosts the high school boys basketball state finals expires following the 2015 tournament. Local officials from the public and private sectors are negotiating another five-year extension of that deal with the IHSA.

The finals of the tournament, long considered the premier event in Illinois high school sports, have been played in Peoria since 1996. A substantial local investment of manpower and money enabled Peoria to wrest the two-weekend event from Champaign, where it had been played for 77 years. The city’s commitment has allowed Carver Arena to retain the tournament for almost two decades.

It appears that commitment might be wavering a bit.

We hear some of the state-finals corporate sponsors that have been on board in the past have yet to sign up for another five-year run. That doesn’t mean they won’t. But re-upping no longer seems to be a slam dunk.

There also appears to have been at least some thought given to downsizing the financial package the IHSA is offered.

That package includes $35,000 annually from municipal coffers and $200,000 from the multi-jurisdictional tourism reserve fund, according to at-large City Councilman Ryan Spain. The reserve-fund money goes to the IHSA ($130,000) and to reimburse the Civic Center for facility expenses ($70,000).

There is little doubt the state finals once were a boon to the Peoria-area economy. Tickets were scarce. So were vacant hotel rooms. And Downtown eating and drinking establishments were more packed than a zone defense can be.

But times have changed.

According to the IHSA, an initial guess for tickets sold during the Class 1A-2A finals March 14-15 is about 28,000 for four sessions. That would leave an average of more than 4,000 tickets unsold per session.

The actual number of people in attendance wasn’t available. But it appeared to be smaller than 7,000 each session — much smaller, in most cases.

For much of the tournament’s first decade in Peoria, near-capacity ticket sales of more than 11,000 per session were common. And if sessions weren’t full in reality, they were close to it.

Anecdotal evidence from Peoria restaurateurs, hoteliers and bar owners suggests business during state-finals weekends no longer is much different than usual.

Certainly the moribund economy and the price of gasoline have something to do with the decline. The initial rush of having a new event in town has faded, too.

But scores of conversations with all stripes of tournament observers focus on the IHSA’s decision to change the event format from two enrollment classes to four, starting in 2008. Class expansion has diluted talent, heightened confusion, increased travel and decreased interest.

The bottom line is the state finals don’t contribute nearly as much to the civic bottom line as they once did. It makes sense the local bid should at least be commensurate with that decrease.

We understand Champaign might be making another attempt, at least its third, to regain the tournaments. That probably would entail games in State Farm Center, which has a larger capacity than Carver Arena and would appear even emptier. The University of Illinois facility also has no logical place to stage the March Madness Experience, the interactive extravaganza held in the Civic Center exhibit hall.

Good luck with all that.

Multiple state-tournament suitors once courted the IHSA. With its one-time crown jewel smashed to pieces, the competition isn’t what it was. Neither is the tournament.

Perhaps Peoria’s financing of it — some of which comes from the public till — shouldn’t be, either. (N.V.)

Unpopular governor

If Tuesday’s results are any indication, Gov. Pat Quinn has a tough fight coming downstate in November’s election.

We’re not just talking about among Republicans and independents, though. First he has to bring his own Democrats along — something that primary results suggest might be trouble.

Little-known challenger Tio Hardiman — who lost to Quinn statewide by a 72-28 margin — pulled significantly closer locally, actually besting him in Fulton County and running competitively elsewhere. He topped Quinn in other counties outside the region, too.

It’s reflective of the utter disdain that many Democrats have for the governor south of Interstate 80, and a serious worry for a candidate who lost 98 of the 102 counties four years ago. (C.K.)

Worth pondering

The wide margin of victory predicted for Republican businessman Bruce Rauner never materialized, and state Sen. Kirk Dillard closed the gap to less than 3 percentage points from a 13- to 20-point gap depending on which poll you believed.

The observation we’ve heard most frequently is that Dillard could have pulled it off had either of his two opponents — state Sen. Bill Brady or Treasurer Dan Rutherford — folded tent before the campaign’s closing weekend. It’s especially pronounced in Rutherford’s case given that it’s been clear for several weeks that he had no chance.

It’s tough to tell if any of that is accurate, but intra-party tensions like this — despite the window dressing of a party unity meal last Wednesday — won’t help the GOP elect a governor any more than downstate Democrats’ palpable dislike for Quinn will help them keep him in office.

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Have a question for 3rd District Peoria City Councilman Tim Riggenbach? He is to participate in a live Web chat at 1 p.m. Wednesday at pjstar.com. Check the website soon for details.

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Chris Kaergard (C.K.) covers politics and Peoria County government for the Journal Star. He can be reached at 686-3135 or ckaergard@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisKaergard. Nick Vlahos (N.V.) covers Peoria City Hall. He can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick. Read their blog online at http://blogs.pjstar.com/wordonweb.

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